Cashless parking ticket machines move step closer

The council wants to turn its parking ticket machines cashless

A move to make parking ticket machines cashless in a town has moved a step closer.

Swindon Borough Council wants to spend £810,000 to change the machines across the town, and has started the process to find a contractor to deliver the proposal.

The plan includes making the machines cashless, however no decisions have been made.

A notice posted on Bidstats by the council, a specialist website listing public sector tenders and contracts, said the new machines would be for its multi-storey car parks and country parks.

The contract to deliver the plan could be worth as much as £810,000 across five years, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

In September, the council's audit committee heard machines that take cash are targeted by vandals and thieves, and there is a discrepancy between what the machine says it has taken and the money counted.

The council owns 23 car parks across the borough, and its not known if all will be affected.

It is not yet known when a decision on the proposal will be made.